# Normal Places Made Famous by an Arts and Entertainment Thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803 "2023-03-06T20:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/61 "2023-03-07T06:27:09Z")
The place near the thing where we went that time was popularized by Broadcast News. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/62 "2023-03-07T06:34:31Z")
There used to be a railroad trestle outside Athens, Georgia that had a picture on the back cover of a instantly classic album that will be 40 years old next month. > **[It's the End of the Trestle as we know it (and I feel fine) | Athens Politics...](https://athenspoliticsnerd.com/end-of-murmur-trestle/)** > > On Nov 5, 2019, the commission voted to give the famous Murmur trestle a makeover, and also had an intense debate on the prosperity package. Several years later, U2 released their own magnum opus, “The Joshua Tree”, and they have refused to say exactly where the cover picture was taken, because they don’t want people going into the Joshua Tree National Park to cut down The Tree as a souvenir. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/63 "2023-03-07T07:06:14Z")
they also filmed the flintstones there too after filming they’d let the locals look around and take pictures it looked exactly like the cartoon … ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/64 "2023-03-07T11:39:28Z")
Chippewa Square in Savannah Georgia is the location of the bus stop in Forrest Gump. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/65 "2023-03-07T13:23:52Z")
The Berlin State Library features prominently in Wim Wenders’ “Wings Of Desire”. > **[Berlin State Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_State_Library)** > > The Berlin State Library (German: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as SBB, colloquially Stabi) is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the largest libraries in Europe, and one of the most important academic research libraries in the German-speaking world. It collects texts, media and cultural works from all fields in all languages, from all time periods and all countries of the world, which are of int > **[Wings of Desire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Desire)** > > Wings of Desire (German: Der Himmel über Berlin, pronounced \[deːɐ̯ ˈhɪml̩ ˈʔyːbɐ bɛʁˈliːn\] (listen); lit. 'The Heaven/Sky over Berlin') is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their lo... ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/66 "2023-03-07T14:06:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The ubiquitous Vasquez Rocks, most memorable from the _ **Star Trek** _ episode “Arena”: Also Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park, used as a filming location for multiple movies and TV shows going back to the silent film days, including all of the _Star Treks_, innumerable cheap 50s SF films, and as the entrance to the Bat Cave. > **[Bronson Canyon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronson_Canyon)** > > Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present. > Bronson Canyon is located in the southwest section of Griffith Park near the north end of Canyon Drive, which is an extension of Bronson Avenue. In 1903, the Union Rock Company founded a quarry, originally named Brush Canyon, for excavation of... ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/67 "2023-03-07T15:37:48Z")
Also also the [Exorcist steps](https://ih0.redbubble.net/image.3744925.0822/flat,1000x1000,075,f.jpg) in Georgetown, Washington DC. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/68 "2023-03-07T15:41:02Z")
When I went to Seattle I visited [the house where Kurt Cobain died](https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/seattle-wa/attractions/kurt-cobains-house). Well, not the house but the [tree and the bench next to the house](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kurt-cobains-bench). I left him a cigarette. As you can see by the article and the pictures of the bench, lots of people go there. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/69 "2023-03-07T16:15:29Z")
The [Père-Lachaise Cemetery](https://www.paris.fr/dossiers/bienvenue-au-cimetiere-du-pere-lachaise-47/) in Paris, while already famous for several notable residents, recieved a huge boost in attendance due to the Doors movie showing Jim Morrison’s grave at the end. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/70 "2023-03-07T16:27:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Several years later, U2 released their own magnum opus, “The Joshua Tree”, and they have refused to say exactly where the cover picture was taken, because they don’t want people going into the Joshua Tree National Park to cut down The Tree as a souvenir. One summer, we drove through Joshua Tree and decided to go down Black Eagle Mine road in the Taurus. After five or six miles, the road started looking ugly, so we turned around. It was about a month later that the Dutch music producer and his girlfriend went down that same road in a sports car to try to find _the tree_, got stuck and perished from exposure.        That kind of creeped us out. We were not looking for _the tree_, just enjoying the desert. Ironically, if you can call it that, the actual location of _the tree_, AIUI, was off a road that leads into Death Valley, which is over 200 miles away by road, and it may not have even been standing at the time (they do just naturally topple, because, nature). ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/71 "2023-03-07T16:38:26Z")
Hazard, KY had some minor fame from mentions in folk and bluegrass songs like Phil Ochs’s “Hazard, Kentucky” and the standard “Nine Pound Hammer”. Later on it served as inspiration for “The Dukes of Hazzard”, though the fictional town had an extra “Z”, was in Georgia, and was in Hazzard County, while the real Hazard is in Perry County. (Both named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.) To this day if the city wants to honor someone it declares them a Duke or Duchess of Hazard, complete with certificate. If you visit the Dukes of Hazzard Museum in Nashville (just across the road from the Opryland Hotel) you can see the one they gave to Ben Jones (aka Cooter). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/72 "2023-03-07T16:43:33Z")
Speaking of U2 and Joshua Tree, The Harmony Motel in 29 Palms promotes itself as the place where the band stayed when they were in the area. In a similar vein, the nearby Joshua Tree Inn is a destination for fans of Gram Parsons. They advertise a “Cosmic American Experience” for those who stay in Room #8 where he “spent his last hours”. I don’t think Devils Tower could be classified as a “normal” place, but it got a huge boost in the public’s consciousness and became a destination for film fans from all over after Close Encounters came out. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/73 "2023-03-07T16:51:04Z")
The Hotel California would be among the most famous places of all, except no one ever leaves to tell about it. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/74 "2023-03-07T17:08:11Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The place near the thing where we went that time was popularized by Broadcast News. I have visited the DC area a lot, and have wondered just where “that” place is. Can you tell me ? It looks like it’s in old town Alexandria, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/75 "2023-03-07T17:32:08Z")
The house from _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ is 1428 Elm St. in the films, but is 1428 North Genessee Ave. in West Hollywood. I used to drive past it once and a while. Interestingly, I have a book about the series that cites the address as 1428 _Genesis_ Ave. No idea if that was shoddy copy editing, or a sly attempt to keep people from harassing the current owners. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/76 "2023-03-07T17:38:32Z")
[Jackson Street Bridge](https://www.exploregeorgia.org/article/track-down-georgia-film-locations-like-photographer-andrea-david). Sure, it has a great view of the Atlanta Skyline, but it really only became a Destination after The Walking Dead. I mean, it’s mostly just a bridge. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/77 "2023-03-07T17:52:31Z")
Theresa’s Stockbridge Cafe in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, former site of The Back Room, better known as “Alice’s Restaurant.” [![](https://img.atlasobscura.com/nLT3csZai3i2m_Fq1mQMGMxy0nY6Ppl8BDHcrER_NTA/rt:fit/h:390/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9hYjNk/OWE4MC0yYmYxLTQy/MGYtOGQyMi00NTRi/YzE5MTM0NjhlZWQ0/MGEwYzVjMTA2YjA2/ZGZfUFhMXzIwMjEw/NTI4XzEzNTYzNzg5/Ni5qcGc.jpg) ](https://img.atlasobscura.com/nLT3csZai3i2m_Fq1mQMGMxy0nY6Ppl8BDHcrER_NTA/rt:fit/h:390/q:81/sm:1/scp:1/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdGxh/cy1kZXYuczMuYW1h/em9uYXdzLmNvbS91/cGxvYWRzL3BsYWNl/X2ltYWdlcy9hYjNk/OWE4MC0yYmYxLTQy/MGYtOGQyMi00NTRi/YzE5MTM0NjhlZWQ0/MGEwYzVjMTA2YjA2/ZGZfUFhMXzIwMjEw/NTI4XzEzNTYzNzg5/Ni5qcGc.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/78 "2023-03-07T18:06:57Z")
There’s also a restaurant in California that became famous just because it happened to have the same name as Arlo Guthrie’s song. > **[The remote Woodside restaurant where prominent '60s figures ate](https://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/Bay-Area-Alices-Restaurant-Hunter-Thompson-Baez-16432159.php)** > > Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson and Joan Baez were frequent customers of Alice's... ETA: Actually, it’s a little unclear if the restaurant in California was already called Alice’s Restaurant before the song came out, or if the owner changed the name to capitalize on the popularity of the song. The article I posted above makes it sound like the former, but the restaurant’s own [about us](http://www.alicesrestaurant.com/about/) page makes it sound like the latter. But either way, today they’re obviously playing up the connection to the song, even though the restaurant has nothing to do with the song. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/79 "2023-03-07T18:13:41Z")
Route 66? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803/80 "2023-03-07T18:20:30Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > Route 66 Good one! The song came out in 1946 just when new cars started rolling off the lines for the first time in half a decade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-places-made-famous-by-an-arts-and-entertainment-thing/980803.md?page=5)